For the first time in 26 years, the DeKalb County Board is split down the middle: 12 Democrats and 12 Republicans.

Democrat Anita Jo Turner beat Republican Steven Kuhn to take the Sycamore-area District 4 seat, which is being vacated by Republican John Wilson. In District 9, which covers much of the south side of DeKalb, Democrat Jeff Whelan ousted Republican James MacMurdo.

Dennis Sands is the current chairman of the DeKalb County Board. His term ends Dec. 6. On this day, the board will vote in a new chairman.

With an even split, it could be difficult to choose a new chairman with a tie vote.

“I think the people on the board now all get along pretty well; we can come up with a solution. Everyone is pretty level-headed, whether they be Republican or Democrat,” Sands said.

Each member will caucus individually and pick three members of the board to be on a special committee. The three board members who receive the most votes constitute the committee, Sands said.

The committee is in charge of picking a chairman and a vice chairman. The entire board then will vote on Dec. 6.

The last time this happened was in the mid-1980s. Back then, the chairman represented one party, while the vice chairman represented the other. Whichever party did not receive the board chairman position received more committee chairman positions, Sands said.

To some, this predicament is not much of a predicament at all.

“People are making a bigger deal out of this than it is,” Wilson said.